No. 5 River Hill capitalizes

Short punt sets up Hawks' winning drive

River Hill 13 Glenelg 9

Football

After three quarters last night, visiting Glenelg could sense it was on the verge of upsetting No. 5 River Hill.

The Gladiators were able to establish their running game by finding holes in the Hawks' defensive line, never allowed River Hill quarterback Daniel Hostetler to get comfortable in the pocket and played flawlessly on special teams. In the end, however, the Hawks showed the resilience that has helped them capture the past three Howard County titles by scoring the winning touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to pull out a 13-9 victory.

The Hawks (2-0, 2-0) won despite several costly mistakes, including a fumble on the Glenelg 1-yard line that prevented them from taking a five-point lead late in the third quarter. Despite Glenelg's swarming defense, Hostetler completed six of 11 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown. He also intercepted two passes on defense.

"I got a lot of help from my linemen with those two interceptions because they put a lot of pressure on their quarterback to make him throw the ball," Hostetler said. "The whole team is pumped right now. We are going into next week with a big win. It's awesome."

After a scoreless first quarter, the Hawks took a 7-0 lead on Hostetler's 16-yard run. The Gladiators (1-1, 1-1) answered with a 15-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown by Brandon Dever (96 yards, 21 carries).

Billy West's 46-yard field goal as time expired gave Glenelg a 9-7 halftime lead. Gladiators coach Butch Schaffer said his team did enough to win the game, and the intensity of the game will help his team get better.

"Our kids played as hard as they could, but [River Hill] is a tremendously talented team and we knew that coming in," Schaffer said. "I thought it was a pretty even game all around. Both teams played extremely hard. By the end of the year, we are going to be a pretty good football team."

Glenelg's lead disappeared in the fourth quarter. After Glenelg punted from its end zone, River Hill began the ensuing drive on the Gladiators' 28-yard line. The Hawks used eight running plays to get to the 1-yard line. Zach Martiun then ran behind the left guard for the winning score.

"A couple of things didn't go our way tonight," River Hill coach Brian Van Deusen said. "Our kids hung in there and didn't get down. We told them at halftime all we have to do is shut them out and play our offense."